By Joe Johnson
A former Madison County sheriff’s deputy who was charged with murdering a University of Georgia student two months ago was recently denied a request for bond.
Wester Judicial Circuit Judge Lisa Lott denied Winford “Trey” Terrell Adams III’s request on the grounds he “poses a significant threat and danger to persons in the community.”
In an order dated Jan. 16. Lott noted in the order she made her decision after hearing evidence from defense and prosecuting attorneys and an Athens-Clarke County police detective.
In addition to posing a risk to others and of committing future felonies, Lott stated in the order that prosecutors “provided enough evidence to concern the Court that (Adams) poses a significant threat of intimidating witnesses.”
Adams was arrested on Nov. 10, the day Athens-Clarke County police said he fatally shot 26-year-old Benjamin Lloyd Cloer at the victim’s residence on Old Jefferson River Road.
Cloer, a UGA student who was working toward a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, had been shot multiple times and he later died at the hospital.
Adams, 32, of Lord Fleming Road in Comer was off duty and not in uniform at the time of the shooting. He was taken into custody at the scene.
In a call he made to a 911 dispatcher, Adams said he shot Cloer because he caught his wife cheating on him with the victim.
However, Adams’ wife told a dispatcher that Cloer was “just my friend. This was a misunderstanding. My husband doesn’t understand he’s just my friend.”
Adams, who was immediately fired as a deputy, began working for the Madison County Sheriff’s Office in August 2018.
His case had not been presented to a grand jury as of Monday.
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